2M

2M

Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. have announced plans for a 10-year vessel-sharing agreement on the Asia-Europe, trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic trades as the carriers strive to better utilize capacity in the wake of the failed bid to launch the P3 Network.

The vessel-sharing agreement will be referred to as 2M and will replace all existing vessel and slot purchase agreements that Maersk Line has in these trades. It is slated to take effect in early 2015, but the exact start date depends on the filing of information to the relevant authorities in the many jurisdictions that will be covered by the carriers, and in some cases the VSA will require regulatory approval.

A weekend call by the Maersk Kotba on the North Europe service of Maersk Line’s 2M operation with Mediterranean Shipping Co. is the first call by the Danish carrier’s ships in New Orleans in three years.

China is the main battleground for the world’s four mega shipping alliances, that collectively depart from 10 mainland ports every week to North Europe in 74 weekly voyages, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

The new carrier mega-alliances are set to shake up market share on the key Asia-North Europe liner trade while shippers will benefit from a greater choice of services, and probably lower freight rates, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants.

The 2M alliance between Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. began in Dalian at the weekend when the brand new Triple-E vessel, Munkebo Maersk, left the northern Chinese port for Busan in South Korea, its second stop on the Asia-Europe rotation.

Wilhelmshaven hailed its success in landing a third 2M service as a sign of ocean carriers’ growing interest in Germany’s only deep water port that is virtually empty more than two years after opening.

The new ocean carrier alliances set to launch in 2015 will operate more reliable schedules, removing a major factor behind the congestion that has plagued major container ports this year, marine terminal operators said at the JOC Group’s Port Performance Conference in London today.

Events on the U.S. West Coast dominated on JOC.com this past week, as labor negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association could finally be heating up. Five of the Top 10 stories on JOC.com in the past week focused on the issue.